Child&#39;s auto safety seat



Jan. 15, 1957 J. c. TRAVIS CHILD'S AUTO SAFETY SEAT Filed Jan. 3, 1956 Fig 2 INVENTOR. Ju/ms 67mm Fig 3 United States Patent 2,777,502 CHILDS AUTO SAFETY SEAT Julius C. Travis, San Rafael, Calif.

Application January 3, 1956, Serial No. 557,097

2 Claims. (Cl. 155--10) This invention relates to improvements in vehicle seats and has particular reference to a childs safety seat for use in an automobile.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a chair which is comfortable for a child and one which will prevent the child from being thrown from the seat, also one which will cushion the head and neck against shock in the event of a rear-end collision, and a chair which will gradually absorb the shock in such a manner that no injury will occur to the child.

A further object is to produce a device of this character which is economical to manufacture, one which may be quickly installed and is neat in appearance.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like numbers are employed to designate like parts throughout the same.

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of my chair;

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view of one end of the shock-absorbing spring and looking in the direction of the arrow 3--3 of Fig. 1.

Children who ride in automobiles are often subject to serious injuries, particularly when a head-on collision occurs or when there is a sudden stopping of the vehicle when proceeding in a forward direction.

Also, when the vehicle is struck from the back, as in a rear-end collision, a childs neck may be snapped so as to cause severe injuries to the neck.

' Applicant has therefore devised a chair which may be secured to the seat of an automobile through the use of an ordinary safety belt which is connected to the chair in such a way that the belt performs two functions, first, se-' curing the chair to the seat, and, second, effecting a braking and cushioning action as the chair as a Whole, with the child therein, tends to move forward at the time of an impact or collision or abrupt stopping of the vehicle.

Also, the back of the seat to which the chair is secured is sufficiently high so that when a rear-end collision occurs, the back of the childs head will be prevented from a sudden snapping of the head and neck.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral 5 designates the seat of an ordinary automobile, which may be either the front or the back seat, which seat has a back 6 the floor of the car being designated by the numeral 7.

My childs chair consists of a back portion 8, side portions 9 and 11, a seat portion 12, and a base portion 13. These parts are all secured together as best illustrated in Fig. 2 and it will be noted that a cross-piece 14 mounted beneath the forward edge of the seat portion 12 and extending between the sides 9 and 11, taken with the base and the back, forms a storage area A in which toys,

' packages andthe like may be placed. A belt 16 extends around the back board 8 through slots 17 in the side boards 9 and 11, and the loose ends thereof may be buckled around the waist of the child, thus holdingthe child in the chair itself.

At 18 I have shown a safety belt commonly used in many vehicles today, which is secured by a clamp 19 to the floor of the car and has one end thereof terminating in a buckle 21, while the opposite end is reeved through an opening 22 formed in the side 11, thence around a spring bar 23, the ends of which are bifurcated so as to maintain the belt in engagement with the front of the bar (see Fig. 2), thence the belt passes through a slot 24 in the side portion 9, and is tightened through the buckle 21. The portion of the belt extending through the slots 22 and 24 form a traverse which when tightened will exert friction on the edges of the slot, thus tending to prevent the belt from slipping therein.

The spring bar 23 is connected to the bottom of the seat by a right angle clamp 26.

The result of this construction is that when the chair is positioned in the car and the safety belt 18 is properly adjusted, the spring bar 23 will lie practically parallel with the front edge of the sea-t 12, and the buckle 21 is tightened so that all slack is taken up.

The child is now placed in the seat and the buckle on the strap 16 is fastened around the waist of the child.

I Now assuming that a front-end collision occurs, the inertia will tend to throw the child against the belt 15 and the chair as a whole will tend to move forward with the child. However, at the same instant, the safety belt 18 will start to function and two things will occur. First, there will be a braking action set up by the friction of the offset portion or traverse portion in going around the edges of the slots, and this friction will be increased as the chair moves forward and the belt 18 tightens.

The spring bar 23 now begins to bend as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. Therefore there is a dampening action by the friction of the belt passing through the slots and there is also a continued slowing-up action as the spring bar starts to bend, so that the shock of the collision or sudden stop will be absorbed. It is a well known fact that if a force is dissipated even for a relatively short period of time, any damage which might have resulted therefrom may be completely eliminated.

At the same time the forward movement of the chair will also cause a downward movement of the chair as a whole against the seat cushion 5, further absorbing the shock of impact.

It will thus be seen that I have produced a device which will accomplish all of the objects above set forth. It is to be understood that the form of my invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes relative to the material, size, shape and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In combination with the seat cushion and seat back of an automobile, a childs chair positioned on said seat and engaging the seat and back, a retaining strap secured to the body of the automobile and extending through the sides of said chair and engaging a cushioning element carried by said chair, to cushion any forward movement of said chair with relation to said automobile seat.

2. A childs automobile safety chair comprising a back portion, a base portion, side portions secured to said base and said back portions, a seat extending between said side portions and abutting said back portion, a spring bar secured to the forward edge of said seat portion, slots formed in said side portions and a safety belt extending Patented Jan. '15, 1957 3 4 through said slots to form an offset traverse and having a References Cited in the file of this patent portion thereof lying parallel t o and engaging said spring UNITED STATES PATENTS bar, a portion of said belt being anchored to the body of a motor vehicle whereby any forward movement of 2664140 hmdelberger Dec-2911953 said childs seat will be resisted by said safety belt and 5 said spring bar. 

